In continuation of my update on Vitamin-E
The
cancer preventive activity of vitamin E has been suggested by many epidemiologic
studies. However, several recent large-scale human trials with α-tocopherol, the most commonly recognized and used form of
vitamin E, failed to show a cancer preventive effect. The recently finished
follow-up of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) even
showed higher prostate cancer incidence in subjects who took α-tocopherol supplementation. The scientific community and the
general public are faced with a question: “Does vitamin E prevent or promote
cancer?” Researchers lead by Dr. Chung
S. Yang, Director of the center did experiments in
animal models and tried to conclude about the cancer
preventive activity of γ- and δ-tocopherols as well as
a naturally occurring mixture of tocopherols, and the
lack of cancer preventive activity by α-tocopherol.
On
the basis of these results as well as information from the literature, we
suggest that vitamin E, as ingested in the diet or in supplements that are rich
in γ- and δ-tocopherols, is cancer preventive; whereas
supplementation with high doses of α-tocopherol is
not.
